Shoe heel insert and heel



May 20, 1947. N. cl-u ono 2,420,770

SHOE HEELINSERT AND HEEL Filed March 15, 1946 7W will/11111112.

Patented May 20, 1947 UN ED STAT ES PAT ENT OFF ICE SHOE HEEL INSERT AND HEEL;

Ned Chi'cdo, Des Moines, Iowa; Application March 15, 1946, Serial-1N0. 654,657 7 4 Claims. 1

The present inventionrelatesto a resilientshoe heel insert and more particularly to a resilient shoe heel insert placed in ashoe. heel that only covers a portion of the bottom face of the heel and is that portion of the shoeheelwhichcomes into contact first with the surface upon which a person'is walking.

Rubber heels on shoes are old and have .been in use on shoes for along. period of time to absorb shocks that come from bringing the heel into contact with a surface upon which a person is walking. There area group of people that prefer an all leather heel to a solid rubber heel and then again there are a group of people that prefer a leather heel with the portion of the heel which strikes the surface being walked upon being of rubber to absorb impacts. Where a small portion of the heel is rubber it presents a problem in. attaching the rubber to the leather in such a manner that a lasting heel will be built up.

It is an object of the invention among others to provide a resilient shoe heel insert and abuilt-up shoe heel structure that will providelonger wear; that is easier to attach in a shoe heel than any known resilient shoe heel insert; a resilient shoe heel insert that is sold as a separate memberso a shoemaker or-shoemanufacturer has only to buy the insert and can use his ownleather; a resilient shoe heel insert that allows a shoemaker or shoe manufacturerto use his scrap leather in building up a shoe heel insert that can. be inserted in a shoe heel structure with a minimum .of labor and at a minimum of expense"; and a resilient shoe heel insert that fits solidly into place in a shoe heel and will not pull out of place in the heel until worn down to the point where replacement is necessary.

In carrying out the objects of the invention there is provided as an article of manufacture a resilient heel insert adapted to be placed on the heel of a shoe. The insert is shaped tofi't' on the heel of a shoe at the point in the heel which first contacts the surface being Walked upon. The insert may cover the whole rear portion of the heel of a shoe and extend for a substantial distance along the outer side of a heel to provide a cushioning means for the foot when the heel strikes the surface upon which a person is walking. The resilient insert may be of rubber and has a main body portion with openings to receive attaching means to secure the main body of the insert to the heel portion of the shoe. A ledge a portion is attached to and extends from the main body of the insert with openings in the ledge portion to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion on the-heel of theshoe. The openings in the ledge portion are surrounded by washer members embedded in the ledge portion.

In a further carrying outof the objects of the invention there is provided a shoe heel which is made up of a main heel portion of non-resilient material, which may be leather, mounted on a shoe. A-resil-ien-t insert, such as a rubber insert is placed in the shoe heel with the insert bein shaped to fit in theshoe heel at a point in the shoe heel which first contacts the su-rfacebeing walked upon. The heel is built up in layers with the main portion of the heel being of leather and the rubber insert is placed in the shoe heel toform part of thelast layer of the shoe heel. The rubber insertmay cover .the whole rear portion of the shoe heel and extends for a substantial distance along the outer side of the heel to provide a cushioning means by being the first portion of ashoe to strike the surface being walked upon. by a person walking. The rubber insert has a main body portion with openings to receive attachin means to secure the main body ofthe insert to the shoe heel with the main body of the rubber insert being the correct height of thefinished heel. The rubber insert has a ledge portion attached and extending from the 'main body of-the insert with openin'gs in the ledge portion to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion to the shoe heel. Washers may be provided around the openings in the ledge portion and embedded in the ledge portion to rte-enforce the ledge portion. 0A. strip of leather is added covering the ledge portion and abutting the main body of the insert tocomplete the shoe heel.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described. hereinafter andwill beparticularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto;

In the drawings wherein like symbols refer to likeor corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a top elevational View of the resilient heel insert.

Figure 2: is a perspective view of a shoe heel prepared to receive the resilient insert of Figure '1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the shoeheel of Figure 2 with the resilient insert of Figure 1 attached to the heel.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the shoeyheel of the previous two figures showing the completed heel assembly.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the heel taken on the line 5--.5 of Figure 4'.

-A resilient shoe heel insert I may be made of rubber and is sold in pairs, one insertbeing for the left shoe while the other insertis shaped for the right shoe heel. The insert is made with a main body portion 2 and ailedge portion 3, attached to and extending from the main body portion 2'. The main body portion 2 has openings A through which attaching means 5 are inserted, as shown in Figure 5, to hold the body portion 2 of the insert in place on a shoe heel.

Figure 2 shows the heel 6 of a shoe that has been prepared to receive the insert I. The shoe heel 6 is built up in the usual manner of layers of leather with the next to the top layer cut in a manner to receive the insert I. Figure 3 shows the insert I in place on the shoe heel 6. The insert I has been nailed into place as by attaching means 5 through openings 4 in the main body portion 2 of the insert I. The ledge portion 2 has openings I with washers 8 surrounding the opening to reenforce the rubber around opening 1 when attaching means 9 are inserted through opening I and driven into heel 6.

In Figure 4 the next step in the process of building up the shoe heel is shown. A piece of leather I0, which ma be any scrap leather is applied to heel 6, bringing the heel up to the height of the body portion 2 of insert I. The piece of leather I0 covers ledge 3 and abuts main body portion 2 of the insert I. The piece of leather I0 is nailed to the heel 6 in any nail design desired by an applicator, and Figure 4 is suggestive of one design that may be used. Indicating means I I are placed on the main body portion 2 of the insert I to indicate to the applicator where nails 9 are in the insert I so he does not drive a nail from leather I0 into washers 8 in the ledge 2.

It can be seen that a heel structure is presented that has a resilient portion at the point in the heel that contacts first the surface bein walked upon by a person in walking but has the main portion of the heel of leather. The insert I is solidly mounted in the heel structure in that the ledge portion 2 is directly attached to the main heel body 6. If the ledge portion is attached by nails driven through a leather strip and the ledge portion, the nail holes in both the leather and rubber tend to enlarge with a consequent loosening of the whole heel structure. An insert structure is therefore presented that will stay solidly in place on a shoe heel until entirely worn down and replacement is necessary. For replacement insert I is removed along with leather strip I0 and new pieces are inserted just as previously described. For shoemakers this effects many economies in that the shoe maker need only bu a small pair of rubber inserts which are relatively inexpensive when compared to the price of a whole heel of rubber and is able to use his own scrap leather for the piece I0 of the heel.

While the invention has been described in connection with one embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that practice of the invention within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the true scope of the invention in all its aspects.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a rubber heel insert to be placed on the heel of a shoe, said insert being shaped to fit into the heel of the shoe at the point in the heel which first contacts the surface being walked upon, the insert having a main body portion with openings to receive attaching means to secure the main body of the insert to the heel portion of the shoe, and a ledge portion attached and extending from the main body of the insert with openings in the ledge portion and washers embedded in the ledge portion surrounding the openings to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion on the heel of the shoe.

2. An article of manufacture comprising a rubber heel insert to be placed on the heel insert to be placed on the heel of a shoe, said insert covering the whole rear portion of the heel of the shoe and extending for a substantial distance along the outer side of the heel to provide a cushioning means by being the first portion of a shoe to strike the surface being walked upon by a person walking, the insert having a main body portion with openings to receive attaching means to secure the main body of the insert to the heel portion of the shoe, and a ledge portion attached and extending from the main body of the insert with openings in the ledge portion and washers embedded in the ledge portion surrounding the openings to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion on the heel of the shoe.

3. A shoe heel comprising a main heel portion of non-resilient material built up on a shoe in layers, a resilient insert to be placed in the shoe heel, said insert being shaped to fit in the shoe heel at the point in the shoe heel which first contacts the surface being Walked upon, the resilient insert having a main body portion with the main body being the correct height for the finished heel and having openings to receive attaching means to secure the main body of the insert to the shoe heel, a ledge portion attached and extending from the main body of the insert with openings in the ledge portion having Washers embedded in the ledge portion surrounding the openings to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion on the shoe heel and a strip of non-resilient material covering the ledge portion and abutting the main body of the insert to complete the shoe heel.

4. A shoe heel comprising a main heel portion of leather built up on a shoe in layers, a rubber insert to be placed in the shoe heel to form part of the last layer of the shoe heel, said insert covering the whole rear portion of the shoe heel and extending for a. substantial distance along the outer side of the heel to provide a cushioning means by being the first portion of a shoe to strike the surface being walked upon by a person walking, the rubber insert having a main body portion with openings to receive attaching means, means to secure the main body of the insert to the shoe heel, the main body of the rubber insert being the correct height of the finished heel, a ledge portion attached and extending from the main body of the insert with openings in the ledge portion having washers embedded in the ledge portion surrounding the openings to receive attaching means to secure the ledge portion on the shoe heel and a strip of leather covering the ledge portion and abutting the main body of the insert to complete the shoe heel.

NED CHIODO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,158,053 Hutchison Oct. 26, 1915 1,151,511 Burt Aug. 24, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,701 Great Britain 1899 202,868 Great Britain Aug. 30, 1923 

